REMI
energy efficiency B.C.

B.C. leads Canada in energy efficiency

Thursday, December 12, 2024

B.C. leads Canada in energy efficiency, ranking first overall among the provinces due to its strong policies in high performance building codes and transportation electrification.

B.C. scored 54 out of a possible 100 points in Efficiency Canada’s 2024 Canadian Energy Efficiency Scorecard, a report ranking the performance of energy efficiency efforts across the county’s provinces and territories. The report measures energy efficiency of each province and territory across 45 different metrics, including relevant policies and programs, buildings, transportation and industry.

Quebec and Prince Edward Island tied for second place at 45 points, followed by New Brunswick, Nova Scotia, Ontario, Yukon, Manitoba, Saskatchewan, Newfoundland and Labrador, and Alberta.

B.C.’s success in the Scorecard is largely due to its CleanBC climate plan, which led to several nation-leading energy efficiency policies.

The CleanBC Roadmap to 2030 includes a proposed requirement for energy efficiency labelling for all home sales, which would increase transparency, encourage retrofits, and help homeowners understand energy costs and carbon impacts.

B.C. has proposed groundbreaking regulations to support decarbonization in buildings, requiring all new space and water heating systems to be 100 per cent efficient.

The Scorecard report noted that while B.C. excels in many areas, there is an opportunity to do more on utility-led energy efficiency programs.

The province could facilitate this with a more decisive direction on prioritizing energy efficiency in resource planning, similar to leading U.S. states like Massachusetts or Oregon.

This would encourage utilities to pursue all available energy efficiency options, which could yield additional cost savings.

In last place, Alberta dropped two spots since the release of the 2022 edition of the report; scoring 8 out of a possible 100 points. Efficiency Canada cited the province’s status as one of the few North American jurisdictions to not allow utilities to engage in demand-side management (DSM) activities as one of the key factors in its performance, sharing that introducing utility-led DSM could help improve its overall energy savings.

 

Leave a Reply

Your email address will not be published. Required fields are marked *

In our efforts to deter spam comments, please type in the missing part of this simple calculation: *Time limit exceeded. Please complete the captcha once again.